Film Review: After Dusk They Come (2009)

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SYNOPSIS:

When a devastating boat crash shipwrecks a group of friends in the jungles of an uncharted island, they are savagely picked off one-by-one by a cannibalistic enemy that evolution forgot.

REVIEW:

Now I have seen this film listed under three different names, “The Forgotten Ones”, “The Tribe”, but the one I viewed had the title screen “After Dusk They Come”. Which I happen to think is the better of the titles though it didn’t particularly fit well with the movie I viewed. It wasn’t a bad film, low budget all the way, but fans of “The Twilight Saga” (which I am not) may take note since series regular Kellan Lutz stars along with Jewel Staite, so fans of “Firefly/Serenity” (which I am a HUGE fan of) will want to catch this one.

Liz (Jewel Staite) and Peter (Justin Baldoni) along with their friends Jake (Kellan Lutz), Lauren (Nikki Griffin), and Ira (Marc Bacher) have embarked on a boat trip to an exotic locale to meet their friend Mo for a fun filled weekend. The boat’s GPS system seems to have malfunctioned and the boat end up sinking and our crew ends up stranded on an island where something in the jungle is watching them. Stranded, they must work together to find a way off the island, only whatever it is that lurks in the jungle, is making it difficult for them to survive.

The problem with “After Dusk” is the complete lack of character development. We learn a little about Liz and Peter’s relationship. That he had been unfaithful and they are trying to work through their problems. Not much else is learned. There seems to be a history between Jake and Lauren, their dialogue hints to that but we never know for sure.  Ira is Lauren’s apparently new boyfriend and we can’t understand why. Things move along at a slow pace and when there is excitement, it almost always happens offscreen using overly quick and shaky cuts or in an underlit environment that makes it horribly hard to make out exactly what is happening. It makes for a rather frustrating experience and leaves the story a real muddled mess.

What’s good? For one, most the actors are rather likable and believable with the little that they are given. Sorry, but Marc Bacher was given the short end of the stick and his character Ira is mostly just annoying. With the lack of character given, you could really care less that he is around. Not his fault, just one of the many script issues found. Jewel did a great job as the timid young girl that finds her inner strength and battles the “forgotten ones” on her own. She is a strong actress and when given a solidly written character (like Kaylee Frye from “Firefly/Serenity”) she can bring it home. She gives her best here even though there wasn’t anything for her to work with. I also love the fact that there is next to no computer effects, at least nothing I caught. All effects and make-up were done with prosthetics and the creatures looked great. Make-up effects artist Barney Burman (“Buffy”, “The X-Files”, and “Tropic Thunder” to name a few) has done a stellar job with the look of the creatures. Part gorilla, part cave dweller from “The Descent”, the look still works.

This isn’t a very good movie by any means but not a complete waste of time either. Worth a view on a boring afternoon and fans of Jewel or Kellan may enjoy it just to see them. While researching the film, I found out that there is already a remake that was filmed just a few months after this one was completed. The remake is called “The Lost Tribe” and features an all new cast (except for Marc Bacher in a different role) and features Lance Henriksen. I even believe that the same stuntmen were used as the creatures. So I am curious to hear the story behind these films and see “The Lost Tribe”. Maybe the issues I had with the story were fixed but with a new cast, I’m not sure it will work.